Book Review – jQuery 1.4 Reference Guide
jQuery is arguably the best Javascript framework available, its my framework of choice anyhow. During development when you need to quickly look up features and functions you can always browse through the online documentation, however, as an alternative there’s the beautifully organised jQuery 1.4 Reference Guide.
The book, written by Jonathan Chaffer & Karl Swedberg, is aimed at developers with at least a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and jQuery; it’s a reference guide, not a manual. Read on for my review.
Book Information
- Full Title:
- jQuery 1.4 Reference Guide: A Comprehensive Exploration of the Popular JavaScript Library
- Author(s):
- Jonathan Chaffer, Karl Swedberg
- Pages:
- 336
- Published:
- Jan 2010
- Publisher:
- Packt Publishing
- ISBN:
- 978-1-849510-04-2
My Review
Way back in November ’07 I reviewed the ‘jQuery Reference Guide’ by Jonathan Chaffer & Karl Swedberg and found it to be an immensely useful resource. jQuery has envolved significantly since then however (new functions, different selectors etc) so this latest revision, which covers all the latest stuff added to jQuery version 1.4, is very much welcome.
As I mentioned earlier, the book is aimed at developers who already know the basics of jQuery and need a quick reference guide — if you need to learn jQuery from scratch then its probably not the best choice (however, it would be a good companion resource because of the quick reference). If your uncertain then you can grab a sample chapter (dom manipulation) from here.
The book covers all aspects of jQuery development and is divided into the following sections:
- Anatomy of a jQuery Script
- Selector Expressions
- DOM Traversal Methods
- DOM Manipulation Methods
- Event Methods
- Effect Methods
- AJAX Methods
- Miscellaneous Methods
- jQuery Properties
- The plug-in API
- Alphabetical quick reference
The first chapter gives examples of jQuery code and serves as an introduction to jQuery as well as an introduction to the other chapters of the book and what they contain. Following chapters contain all the functions and features of jQuery and make up the reference portion of the book.
The alphabetical quick reference section is what you will probably be most likely to reach for when you need to look-up how to use a feature or function. Its divided into 3 parts (selectors, methods and properties) and is very handy — I found myself using it a lot when I needed to look up function arguments quickly during development.
Like the last edition, each section of the book is clearly labelled and well organised. The language used in the book is concise and easy to understand, code is well formatted, diagrams are clear, examples and descriptions are given, and even certain ‘gotchas’ (for example, browser bugs) are pointed out and explained.
Verdict: 9/10 – If you are a developer using jQuery then this is a brilliant quick-reference guide to have on your desk.
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surfingjoe says:
Just bought the book yesterday. This review really says how I feel also! Well done!
Comment made on August 28, 2010 at 2:59 am
Lech says:
I won this book, when World Cup 2010 was on!
great book.
Comment made on August 28, 2010 at 9:00 pm